It's taken me 2 1/2 years of living at the "Sanford Arms", but I'm FINALLY starting to build my Tiki Room! Other projects in our "fixer-upper" that we bought back in 2005 have taken precedence, and now that they're (almost) done, it's time for MY room!

I'm doing all the work myself, with the help of a friend that does house rennovations for a living. He's got the cool equipment and the know-how, & I gots da stuff!

I'll take you thru the process in stages. The photos will always be in the same order, so you can get a feeling for the progress as it happens bit by bit.

So, first off, here's a few shots of the room full of what I like to call "raw stock:"

My wife and I spent a night moving as much "raw stock" out of the room as possible to make room to work. Now the rest of the house looks like a hurricane hit it. Every room has something in the way! Even with tons of stuff moved out, there's still a huge "island" of stuff in the middle that had to be covered 'cuz there's nowhere else for it to go.

I think my wife's artwork is GREAT, by the way!

Then came what many consider to be a "Home Sale Killer"; painting the ceiling purple!

The wifie's artwork still intact!

Boy, my wife's gonna KILL ME when she gets home!

Actually, she wants the ceiling dark as much as I do. It'll give the room a very close and comfy feel, and will also make the fiber optic stars and directional lighting show up much better.

Thanks for all the encouragement on the Purple Ceiling. It's a pretty un-conventional color, but then, I'm going for a pretty un-conventional room! Besides, my room at the antique mall is the same purple, so I guess it's just a natural fit...

Cammo: I'm getting an LED Fiber Optic Starfield kit that just randomly twinkles the white lights. Colors and shooting star kits cost a bit too much, plus alot of it is going to be obscured by hanging objects.

Mr. No: We were actually going to throw Gold glitter into the wet paint so we could have sparkles, but I forgot to buy some to have on hand on painting day. Maybe I can put a gel in the LED light generatror and have gold stars that way. We'll see if it's possible when the kit gets here.

TikiKate: Your answer is below....

And Now, ON TO TODAY'S PROGRESS!

Today was grasscloth wallpaper day, and we almost got done in the 8 hours we worked on it. Man, is that stuff difficult to work with! You really have to struggle to get it all lined up, and trimming the flash is a bitch 'cuz it's so thick! But, as you can see, the final outcome it worth the extra effort:

This is my buddy Ron (who is doing most of the work) putting up the very first piece.

The Wifie's Graffiti is almost gone now. Sorry Baby!

There's a few pieces above the window and sliding glass door that we'll get to tomorrow, but you can still get a general idea of how the purple and red look together. Also, if you look hard at the middle room photo, you can see my little experiment of how the matting will look on the bottom half of the wall.

Tomorrow, the walls should be finished; luhala matting, bamboo trim and all!

VEREEEEEEEEE Interesssssstink....
It looks good, very unique so far. I love the walls!
_________________To drown sorrow, where should one jump first and best? "Certainly not water. Water rusts you." -Frank Sinatra